Guerra indicts judges, former special prosecutors & others for his 2007 arrests

District Attorney Juan Angel "Johnny" Guerra got a Willacy County grand jury to indict district judges Migdalia Lopez and Janet Leal, along with former U.S. Attorney Mervyn Mosbacker, former special prosecutor Gustavo "Gus" Garza, and District Clerk Gilbert Lozano in alleged wrongdoing in Guerra's 2007 arrests.

In a 4-count indictment, judges Lopez and Leal are charged with official abuse of official capacity and official oppression through their involvement in issuing arrests warrants for Guerra, search and seizure of his office, all resulting in his false arrest.

Guerra further alleges that Judge Lopez used her influence with a grand jury foreman to continue an investigation into his activities, after Guerra tried to recuse (prevent) her from hearing the case.

Judge Lopez was contacted, but she politely declined to comment, after consulting with the state judicial commission.

At issue are Guerra's arrests in March and April of 2007.

In April of last year Guerra was charged with abuse of official capacity, perjury, tampering with governmental records, theft, and attempted theft. Those charges were dropped in October by a special prosecutor who said, "The underlying facts don't support the allegations."

Guerra's March 2007 arrests were minor charges, that were dropped by a local justice of the peace.

Mosbacker, Garza, and Lozano were indicted on separate but similar charges for official abuse of official capacity and official oppression.

Mosbacker, according to a 2-count indictment, allegedly impos(ed) his primary duty as a special prosecutor to convict and not to see that justice was done and in doing so had the Hon. Juan Angel Guerra indicted.

Mosbacker led the U.S. Attorneys office in Houston in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is also charged with intentionally subjecting Guerra to an unlawful arrest.

Mosbacker did not respond for comments by press time.

Garza, a former Willacy district attorney and the current justice of the peace in Los Fresnos, is the subject of a 5-count indictment.

In addition to what Mosbacker was charged with, Garza allegedly used underlying facts he knew could not support the charges; used his office to arrest Guerra; and illegally executed a search warrant on or about Feb. 10 2007.

"I'm very disappointed and it's unbelievable that Juan Angel Guerra would go to this extent to be so vindictive," Garza said. "The charges are without substance, have no merit, and it's again outright vindictiveness."

"This is all comical to a point, but when you realize the (criminal justice) system broke down it's unbelievable," Garza said. "Guerra should have been stopped long ago and should never have been given a state bar license."

Lozano, who is in his second term as district clerk, got to open his own indictment yesterday morning, and then forward it to the presiding district judge's office for handling. He is the subject of a 2-count indictment.

The first count alleges Lozano caused Guerra to be arrested without the indictments first being presented; which caused Guerra to be arrested and detained.

"I'm not surprised he indicted county officials because the word on the street has been that he is going out, and he is taking others down with him," said Lozano. "If it's true I was indicted, it's because he is retaliating against me for supporting the one district judge concept."

Lozano is concerned that the grand jury foreman was not invited to attend Monday's session, where these officials, along with Vice President Dick Cheney, were caused to be indicted by Guerra. See related story on page 1.

Lozano is being represented by Harlingen-based attorney John Blaylock, who plans to file a motion to quash (stop) the indictments this morning.

"Johnny's finally left the reservation," said Blaylock, who added, "Guerra's mental stability is in serious question."

The Chronicle/News earlier estimated that Guerra initiated lawsuits were going to costs Willacy County taxpayers about $876 thousand in legal fees alone. Based on the latest round of actions by Guerra, the estimate could top $1 million, which does not include civil damages.

Incoming District Attorney Bernard Ammerman will likely have to sort out the civil and criminal aftermath in January, that was caused by his soon-tobe predecessor.

Bail is in the process of being set for all who were indicted. Several of those indicted have stated they are going to have their indictments quashed (stopped). More details to come as events unfold.

E-mail comments on this story to; robert@raymondvillechroniclenews.com